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'Golden age' of China adoptions fading

Starting in May, China's tighter rules on foreign adoption will essentially push single adults to the bottom of the rapidly growing waiting list.

Anne Marie Devine plays with daughter Julia, 4, in their Newmarket home on Tuesday. She’s hoping to adopt a second daughter from China. (AARON LYNETT / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Andrea GordonFamily Issues Reporter

Wed., Jan. 10, 2007

Anne Marie Devine has always felt blessed to be a mom. But now she feels even luckier.

Devine, who is single and lives in Newmarket, adopted her daughter Julia, 4, from China and brought her to Canada just before the girl's first birthday. And she is eagerly awaiting news about her application to adopt a second daughter.

But as of this May, China's tighter rules on foreign adoption would essentially push single adults like Devine to the bottom of the rapidly growing waiting list – along with potential parents who are physically disabled, obese, on medication for depression or anxiety, or who have a facial deformity.

"When I first heard, I panicked," says Devine, 45. The high school English teacher was relieved to discover she was far enough along in the process that she shouldn't be affected by the new rules. She expects to be welcoming her new child to the family within a year. "But until I'm here with her, there will still be a part of me that's worried."

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Devine is one of many in the foreign adoption community feeling the impact of the changes. For the past decade, China has been the country of choice for Canadians adopting from abroad, providing about half of the children who join families here each year.

That has been primarily because of the huge number of healthy babies available, particularly girls, as a result of the country's policy limiting families to one child. China accounted for 973 of Canada's 1,871 foreign adoptions in 2005.

The more stringent requirements, announced in December, reduce the options for Canadian singles who want to become parents through adoption. Those in the field say the changes also signal a shift in adoption trends and have created apprehension among all prospective parents, regardless of where they have sent applications.

"People are anxious anyway about the process, but when they hear there are more requirements, they become even more anxious," says Patricia Fenton, executive director of the Adoption Council of Ontario, a volunteer organization in Toronto that provides support and resources.

According to the China Center of Adoption Affairs, the changes reflect the imbalance between foreign requests to adopt and fewer Chinese babies needing homes.

The agency announced in early December that as of May 1, priority will be given to couples who have been married for at least two years and are between the ages of 30 and 50.

Among those put to the bottom of the list are adults who are morbidly obese (with a body mass index of more than 40), have a physical or mental handicap, a "severe facial deformation," or take medication for depression or anxiety. Anyone previously divorced has to have been married at least five years. There are additional stipulations about health, income and siblings, and for special-needs children.

China is not the first country to adopt such restrictions. Similar rules exist for foreign adoptions from South Korea. The countries say they want their children to have the best shot at getting healthy parents with reasonable life expectancy to raise them to adulthood.

They consider such conditions as obesity a health risk, but the stipulation about facial deformity struck many people as bizarre. "I find that very, very strange," says Deborah Maw, executive director of Open Arms to International Adoption in Toronto.

Cindy Boates, president of the Toronto chapter of Families with Children from China, says that "overall, the golden age of adoption from China is coming to an end."

The Mississauga mother, 48, is a single mother of two girls, ages 8 and 5, adopted from China. Like many others, she wasn't surprised by the changes.

About a year ago, when applications began to outstrip babies, China attempted to quell demand by slowing down the process, but it had little effect. Those in the adoption community cite China's recent promotion of domestic adoption there, and the loosening of rules limiting families to one child.

Boates says that at the time she adopted, up to a quarter of adoptions from China were by single Canadians. But in 2001, a quota was imposed limiting singles to 5 per cent of applications, which has since risen to 8 per cent.

The latest guidelines mean it doesn't make sense for agencies to send applications from singles and others not considered a priority by Chinese authorities, says Martha Maslen, executive director of The Children's Bridge, an Ottawa agency.

Currently the average wait time between registering a file in China and being matched with a child is cited as anywhere from one year to 16 months. That doesn't include the approval process that first has to happen in Canada, which can take up to three months.

Maslen says every time rules are tightened, it affects the environment for international adoption. "The major impact is it's more and more difficult for families to adopt."

She says the rule changes in China may mark the beginning of a shift to interest in other countries. Haiti is second to China for Canadian adoptive parents, and the United States is third. Those are still among the options for singles looking to adopt, along with Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, which was closed to adoptions for five years and recently reopened.

Maw of Open Arms says her agency has a long list of single people and married couples who will be out of luck. She feels most concerned for families who have one child from China and had hoped to adopt a sibling from the same country, but no longer have a chance.

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